Ministerial Meetings

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the outcome of his recent meetings with the political parties in Northern Ireland.

Peter Hain: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave earlier to the hon. Member for Glasgow, South (Mr. Harris).

Influenza

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the stockpiling of antiviral drugs in the Province to protect against an outbreak of influenza.

Shaun Woodward: Earlier this year my right hon. Friend the former Secretary of State for Health approved a flexible plan to purchase stocks of anti-virals for the whole of the UK. My hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Angela E. Smith) agreed that Northern Ireland would co-join with the other parts of the UK in the two-year purchasing plan and subject to Department of Finance giving approval, funding for the purchase is available within existing resources. Discussions are ongoing about delivery plans to the province.

Belfast City Airport

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the review of the planning agreement affecting Belfast City airport.

Angela Smith: The Department of Environment is presently considering a number of options on how best to progress this review and expects to be able to make an announcement on the way forward in early July 2005.

Contracted-out Employees (Terms and Conditions)

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the Government's commitment to ensure that workers employed by the private sector doing work previously done in the public sector do not have less favourable terms and conditions than those who remain employed by the public sector applies in Northern Ireland in the same way as it does in the rest of the UK.

Angela Smith: The Government are committed to ensuring that workforces in Northern Ireland continue to receive the same protection as in the rest of the UK, in line with government policy as set out in the "Code of Practice on Workforce Matters in Public Sector Contracts" announced by the Prime Minister on 18 March. Work is being taken forward to apply this Code formally in Northern Ireland as quickly as possible. A copy of the code is available at the following website: http:7/www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/opsr/workforce_reform/code_of_practice/index. asp

Health Policy (Strangford)

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will set out, with statistical evidence relating as closely as possible to Strangford constituency, the effects on Strangford of health policies implemented by his Department since 1997.

Shaun Woodward: There have been improvements in the number of deaths and in life expectancy of the residents of the Strangford parliamentary constituency since 1997:
	The overall death rate has fallen in the constituency from 9.27 per 1,000 persons in 1998 to 8.19 in 2003.
	Life expectancy for males has increased from 74.8 years to 77.0 and for females from 79.5 years to 81.7 years since 1997.
	Deaths due to circulatory disease have reduced from 3.66 per 1,000 in 1997 to 3.22 per 1,000 persons in 2003.
	Deaths due to respiratory disease from 1.73 per 1,000 in 1997 to 1.30 per 1,000 in 2003.

Pension Rights

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will amend the Northern Ireland Local Government Officers' Superannuation Committee regulations to allow partners of deceased pensioners the same pension rights as widows and widowers of deceased pensioners.

Angela Smith: There are no plans to introduce such benefits at present, other than those required for civil partners under the Civil Partnership Act 2004.
	The Northern Ireland Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations, administered by the Northern Ireland Local Government Officers' Superannuation Committee, in common with those in Scotland, maintain broad parity with the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Regulations in England and Wales.
	The possibility of further extending survivor benefits in the LGPS in England and Wales to include same or opposite sex partners, other than spouses or civil partners was one of the propositions included in the consultation document "Facing the Future", published by the Office for the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) in October 2004. The consultation document is available on the ODPM website at www.xoq83.dial.pipex.com. The Deputy Prime Minister has recently established a committee comprising employer, trade union and ODPM representatives to consider and negotiate the long-term future of the LGPS.

Suicide

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much funding was made available by his Department for suicide awareness campaigns and support groups for those affected by suicide in the last year for which figures are available.

Shaun Woodward: In 2004–05, the Department provided £350,000 to take forward the actions in the Mental Health Promotion Strategy including a specific campaign aimed at young men, £60,390 was paid to regional voluntary organisations, which provide counselling services, and £228,353 was paid to local groups providing counselling services which includes those affected by suicide.

Waste Dumping (Asbestos)

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent steps he has taken to eradicate cross-border illegal dumping of waste, with particular reference to asbestos.

Angela Smith: The Department of the Environment is aware of the scale and nature of illegal dumping in Northern Ireland, and all possible action are being taken to combat it. The Environment and Heritage Service continues to carry out investigations and prepare prosecution cases in incidents where waste is illegally disposed of in Northern Ireland, regardless of its origin.
	Several cases, including those involving illegal disposal of waste from the Republic of Ireland, are due to be heard in the Crown court. These are the first cases relating to environmental criminal offences to be dealt with in a higher court, where there is potential for unlimited financial penalties and prison sentences. The Department has also taken over responsibility for Transfrontier Shipment of Waste, which will allow us to exercise tighter control.
	The recently established Waste Task Force is exploring measures to strengthen still further the regulatory regime and I will be bringing forward proposals for new legislation as soon as possible.
	Legislation is in place for the safe removal and disposal of asbestos and waste containing asbestos. District councils have the statutory responsibility for fly-tipped waste. However, EHS does work closely with the councils and the Health and Safety Executive for NI to resolve issues involving asbestos waste.

Royal Prerogative

Graham Allen: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the powers available to him under the Royal Prerogative.

Tony Blair: The powers available to the Prime Minister under the Royal Prerogative have evolved over many years and it is not possible precisely to define them.

Civil Servants

Roger Gale: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many civil service posts have been transferred from London to deprived areas of the South East in the past 12 months; how many posts are under consideration for such transfer; and if he will make a statement.

Des Browne: The Government are relocating posts out of London and the South East in accordance with Sir Michael Lyons' recommendations. However, the Lyons Review recognised that in some circumstances departments might be able to make strong business cases for relocating from London to deprived parts of the South East. 22 posts either have transferred or are under consideration for transfer from London to deprived areas of the South East. It is for individual departments to decide on relocation destinations, according to their business needs and taking account of published guidance which promotes consideration of deprived areas, and comprehensive information is not maintained centrally on locations being considered by departments.

Flat Tax

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what studies his Department has conducted or commissioned about a 'flat tax' for (a) personal taxes and (b) business taxes; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The Government actively monitors the international developments in taxation, including the countries that have introduced 'flat tax' regimes. The Government have not conducted or commissioned studies on the introduction of a 'flat tax' in the UK.

Hard-working families

John Hemming: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his definition is of a hard working family.

Dawn Primarolo: The Government are committed to supporting families who work hard to balance their work and family commitments looking after children and their dependents. That is why we are increasing financial support for families through tax credits, extending paid maternity leave, taking action to improve the quality, availability and affordability of child care, and helping record numbers of people into employment.

National Insurance

John Hemming: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people living in the UK qualify for a National Insurance number; and on what basis they qualify.

Dawn Primarolo: All young people resident in the UK who are the subject of a child benefit claim qualify for a National Insurance number (NINO) which is issued to them around the age of 15 years and 9 months. An individual resident in the UK is qualified to register for a NINO if they meet certain employment or benefit-related criteria. They must never have registered before, be aged 16 or over, be employed and/or self-employed, or not employed but wish to be or would benefit from paying Class 3 voluntary contributions. Alternatively they must be eligible for and seeking to claim a social security benefit or tax credit.
	There are 73 million NINOs registered on the National Insurance Recording System (NIRS2) (this total includes among others numbers for deceased persons and those who have gone abroad). We do not know how many people who would qualify for NINO registration do not apply.

Offshore Facilities

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is on UK publicly-funded companies moving services offshore to avoid tax or national insurance payments; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: It is Government policy that Departments and non-departmental public bodies should not seek to minimise tax liabilities through transactions or activities for which there is no genuine justification in economic terms, and should apply restrictions on the use of offshore jurisdictions by successful bidders to procurement contracts, where such restrictions are justified in terms of the objectives of the project and consistent with international obligations and stated objectives on tax transparency and openness. This is made clear in the "Dear Accounting Officer" letter sent by HM Treasury to Departments on 22 May 2003 (DAO Gen/03). Public corporations follow the same rules for managing tax liabilities as private companies.

Tax Credit

David Winnick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 6 June 2005, Official Report, column 293W, on Inland Revenue, for what reasons information on the number of complaints on tax credit received is not collected; if he will take steps to ensure the number of complaints is (a) recorded and (b) published; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 9 June 2005
	The hon. Member's original question asked how many complaints have been made (a) directly and (b) through hon. Members in the last 12 months on how the Inland Revenue office in Preston deals with tax credit queries. The Department does not keep records of the number of complaints made specifically about the way the Tax Credit Office deal with queries, so it was not possible to provide a figure.
	For the numbers of complaints for 2003–04, 1 refer the hon. Gentleman to the Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General published with the Annual Report and Accounts of the Inland Revenue for the year 2003–04. For 2003–04, the Inland Revenue counted the number of complaints rather than the number of people who complained. For 2004–05, to be consistent with the rest of the Department, the Tax Credits Office counted the number of people who made written complaints.
	In 2004–05, complaints were received in around 42,000 cases directly from claimants. Around 9,000 complaints were also made through Members of the House of Commons.

Taxation

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of gross income was paid by (a) all households, (b) the bottom quintile group and (c) the top quintile group in (i) direct taxation, (ii) indirect taxation and (iii) all taxes in the latest year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: This information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl to Dr. Vincent Cable, dated 15 June 2005
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what percentage of gross income was paid by (a) all households, (b) the bottom quintile group and (c) the top quintile group in (i) direct taxation, (ii) indirect taxation and (iii) all taxes in the latest year for which figures are available. I am replying in his absence. (4059).
	The proportion of gross income that was paid in taxes in 2002–03 (the latest year for which data are available) by (a) all households types, (b) the bottom quintile group and (c) the top quintile group can be obtained from Table 3 of 'The effects of taxes and benefits on household income 2002–2003', published on the National Statistics website on 6 May 2004 at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/taxesbenefits.
	The analysis includes measures of income inequality for households in the United Kingdom as a whole based on data from the Expenditure and Food Survey. This is a sample survey covering about 7,000 households in the UK.
	The analysis for 2003–04 is due to be published on the National Statistics website on 7 July 2005.

Tobin Tax

David Kidney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with finance Ministers of other governments about the viability of a Tobin tax.

Dawn Primarolo: At the June G8 meeting, Ministers agreed on a work programme on the IFF and its pilot (the IFF for Immunisation), some of the revenue proposals from the Landau Report brought forward by France and Germany, the Millennium Challenge Account and other financing measures. We believe the International Finance Facility remains the most developed proposal for providing additional resources in the region of the required $50 billion estimated for meeting the Millennium Development Goals. The Government is prepared to consider all proposals for raising international finance for development, but there would be significant technical problems with a tax of this sort and it is not being actively considered at the present time.

Tuition Fees

Peter Law: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will provide the resources necessary to avoid the introduction of variable tuition fees in Wales to the Welsh Assembly Government.

Des Browne: In devolved areas of policy it is for the Welsh Assembly Government to decide its policies and priorities within its overall budget.

Consultation

Graham Allen: To ask the Leader of the House what steps he will take to increase consultation with Parliament.

Geoff Hoon: It is a function of the Leader of the House to ensure that the views of the House are communicated to Government. In addition to passing on matters raised at Business Questions, I am willing to meet with hon. Members from all parts of the House to discuss matters which concern them.

Live8

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what discussions she had with (a) local residents, (b) amenity societies and (c) other interested parties in advance of consent being given for the Live8 concert to take place in Hyde Park;
	(2)  what discussions she had with the organisers of the Live8 concert in Hyde Park on ensuring that the cost of clearing up after the concert will be met by the organisers.

David Lammy: The Royal Parks Agency discussed the concert with the local authority, Westminster city council; with the Friends of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens; with the local operational and safety planning group, which is chaired by Westminster city council and which includes representatives of the emergency and rescue services, and with the Princes Trust, whose Party in the Park was already booked to take place that weekend.
	The event organisers will arrange for the concert site to be cleared during and after the concert. However, as part of Government-wide support for tackling the problems affecting Africa, the Royal Parks Agency will not be charging the organisers for clearing up Hyde Park after this genuinely one-off event. My Department expects to bear those costs arising from Live8 which The Royal Parks are unable to absorb within their existing budgets.

Lottery-funded Projects (Nottingham)

Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the projects funded by the Lottery in Nottingham North in the 2005–06 financial year.

Richard Caborn: Awards made in Nottingham North in this financial year to date (1 April 2005 to 10 June 2005) are shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Distributing body Recipient Project Award date Award amount (£) 
		
		
			 Awards for All (England) Joint Scheme Beacon FE The organisation was recently set up to provide equipment and facility hire for under 10s football. 4 April 2005 2,373 
			 Awards for All (England) Joint Scheme William Sharp School This school will use the award to set up and run an after-school dance club and centre of excellence for local primary schools. The award is for coaching fees, music resources, performance sessions, t-shirts and technical support. 10 May 2005 4,959 
			 New Opportunities Fund A veteran A Second World War veteran from Nottingham has been awarded a grant towards travel costs for a veteran commemorative visit to Singapore and Thailand in November of this year. Funding has also been provided for a carer to travel with the veteran. 10 May 2005 2,100 
			 New Opportunities Fund A veteran A Second World War veteran from Nottingham has been awarded a grant towards travel costs for a commemorative visit to France in May of this year. Funding has also been provided for a care to travel with the veteran. 10 May 1005 525 
			 New Opportunities Fund 3 veterans Three Second World War veterans from Nottinghamshire have been awarded a grant towards travel costs for a commemorative visit to Malta in September of this year. Funding has also been provided for two spouses to travel with the veterans. 18 May 2005 2,250 
		
	
	There will have been awards made this financial year by Lottery Distributors that have yet to be recorded, due to a degree of lag in the reporting process.
	The information is freely available from the Department's searchable Lottery award database at www.lottery.culture.gsi.gov.uk, which uses information supplied by the Lottery distributors.

Capital Spending (Housing)

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  what the total capital spending allocation was for housing between 1997 and 2004; and if he will break down the payments by scheme;
	(2)  what payments have been made by the Government as investment in affordable housing in England, broken down by scheme in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: Government's capital investment in housing in England exceeded £4.7 billion in 2004–05, an increase of almost £2.9 billion over 1997–98 levels.
	Table 1 shows how this total investment in England was split between the main housing programmes.
	
		Table 1
		
			 £ million 
			  1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Supported borrowing for local authorities1, 2 617 955 1,022 1,819 684 785 837 795 
			 Major Repairs Allowance(4) — — — — 1,587 1,529 1,459 1,406 
			 Cash Incentive Scheme1, 3 53 31 2 — — — — — 
			 Estate Action 173 96 57 69 39 14 5 3 
			 Housing Action Trusts(7) 66 53 45 71 68 75 60 45 
			 Private sector renewal 192 166 165 0 21 8 8 5 
			 Housing Market Renewal Pathfinders(8) — — — — — — 48 197 
			 Disabled Facilities Grants 66 64 66 77 88 95 112 106 
			 Arms Length Management Organisations — — — — — 56 322 575 
			 Affordable Housing via Housing Corporation's  programmes 727 732 816 830 823 1,030 1,805 1,636 
			 Total 1,894 2,097 2,173 2,866 3,310 3,592 4,656 4,768 
		
	
	(4) Two changes were made to funding arrangements from 2000–01 as part of wider initiatives to:
	reduce ring fencing of funds to provide local authorities with more flexibility on use of resources in the light of local needs and priorities (the resources which had previously been allocated specifically for private sector renewal grants and Cash Incentive Scheme grants were include in the general funding provided for housing with only transitional payments occurring in later years); and
	move to a basis of resource accounting for government accounts in 2001–02 (a separate funding stream—the Major Repairs Allowance—was established to cover the costs of maintaining council housing in its existing condition (as a proxy for depreciation).
	(5) In each of 2002–03 and 2003–04 about £40 million was topsliced for an overall cross service performance reward pot supporting asset management.
	(6) Funding to help existing council tenants purchase a home of their own thereby freeing up a home for a household in need.
	(7) Some, but not all, of the investment within HATs will deliver housing outputs.
	(8) In addition to this £48 million, £21 million from the Capital Modernisation Fund was spent in the Market Renewal pathfinder areas.
	In addition, Government sponsors other capital programmes which support the housing agenda by levering in private sector investment on housing or supporting infrastructure development. For example, since 1998 we have allocated credits in Housing PFI totalling £259 million between 1998–99 to 2004–05 in schemes that have been signed.
	Affordable housing
	A significant proportion of the total expenditure between 1997–98 and 2004–05 supported provision of affordable housing—table 2 shows a detailed breakdown of the affordable housing programme.
	
		Table 2
		
			  1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Approved Development Programme 667 603 635 727 799 925 1,590 1,600 
			 Safer Communities Supported Housing Fund 0 0 0 0 9 27 27 11 
			 Starter Home Initiative 0 0 0 0 2 67 172 7 
			 Other 60 129 180 103 13 11 16 18 
			 Total 727 732 816 830 823 1,030 1,805 1,636 
		
	
	This table represents the investment the Government have made via the Housing Corporation to registered social landlords for the provision and repair of affordable housing for both rent and low cost homeownership.

Council Tax

John Hemming: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the total council tax take was for 2004–05; and how much council tax was raised from second homes.

Phil Woolas: The amount local authorities in England budgeted they needed to raise through council tax in 2004–05 was £20,299 million.
	It is estimated that approximately £230 million was raised by local authorities from charging council tax on second homes in 2004–05.

Deputy Prime Minister (Properties)

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the addresses of the properties provided by the Government for the use of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Jim Fitzpatrick: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 20 January 2005, Official Report, column 1037W.

Homelessness

Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many persons are (a) registered homeless with and (b) on the housing waiting lists of (i) Maidstone district council, (ii) Milton Keynes council and (iii) Basingstoke and Deane council.

Yvette Cooper: Information about local authorities' actions under homelessness legislation is collected quarterly and is in respect of households rather than persons. Information on the numbers on local authorities' Housing Registers is collected annually and is also in respect of households.
	The number of households accepted as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need during 2004, and the number of households in temporary accommodation arranged by local authorities under homelessness legislation as at 31 December 2004 as reported by each of these local authorities is tabled as follows. Also shown is the number of households on each authority's Housing Register as at 1 April 2004.
	The duty owed to a person accepted as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need is to secure suitable accommodation. If a settled home is not immediately available, the authority may secure temporary accommodation until a settled home becomes available. As an alternative to the provision of temporary accommodation some authorities arrange for households to remain in their current accommodation (homeless at home), until a settled solution becomes available.
	Information is also collected, since 1998, on the number of people who sleep rough—that is, those who are literally roofless on a single night—and these are also tabled.
	
		
			  Accepted(10) as owed a main duty during 2004 In temporary accommodation(11) on 31 December 2004 Households on the housing register as at 1 April 2004 Rough sleepers 2004(12) (Number of persons) 
		
		
			 Maidstone 264 149 1,254 0 
			 Milton Keynes 852 1,467 2,951 0 
			 Basingstoke and Deane 128 150 4,761 2 
		
	
	(10) Households eligible under homelessness legislation, found to be unintentionally homeless and in a priority need category, and consequently owed a main homelessness duty.
	(11) Households in accommodation either pending a decision on their homelessness application or awaiting re-allocation of a settled home following acceptance. Excludes those households designated as "homeless at home" that have remained in their existing accommodation and have the same rights to suitable alternative accommodation as those in accommodation arranged by the authority.
	(12) June 2004 estimates.
	Source:
	ODPM: Homelessness returns (quarterly) and Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix (annual)

Faith Communities/Awareness Training

Paul Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many civil servants in the Department received faith awareness training in 2004.

John Hutton: The Cabinet Office does not have a separate departmental faith awareness training programme.
	Information about faith awareness is provided for all staff via the departmental intranet. Diversity and equality issues are also covered in the Department's selection and management development programmes.

Faith Communities/Awareness Training

Paul Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what recent consultations have been carried out by his Department with representatives of faith communities; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: The Cabinet Office has not recently undertaken formal consultations that have required specific consultation with representatives of faith communities.

Business Closures (London)

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many businesses have ceased trading in (a) Brent East and (b) each London borough in each year since 1997.

Alun Michael: DTI figures based solely on VAT de-registrations for the Brent East parliamentary constituency area and all the London borough areas are shown as follows for 1997 to 2003. Data for 2004 will be available in autumn 2005.
	
		
			 VAT de-registrations 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Brent East parliamentary constituency 255 340 315 415 315 345 340 
			 
			 Outer London
			 Barking and Dagenham 255 380 260 235 255 265 260 
			 Barnet 1,495 2,015 2,015 1,980 2,175 2,230 2,355 
			 Bexley 485 490 430 500 490 490 530 
			 Brent 820 885 940 1,040 1,030 1,030 1,070 
			 Bromley 810 775 830 815 800 925 1,015 
			 Croydon 1,000 1,055 1,100 1,060 1,020 1,140 1,110 
			 Ealing 900 845 835 935 990 1,045 1,070 
			 Enfield 605 585 680 700 735 805 780 
			 Greenwich 380 390 410 425 375 415 465 
			 Harrow 710 775 845 890 880 940 960 
			 Havering 575 570 550 585 535 630 615 
			 Hillingdon 715 670 685 755 730 790 845 
			 Hounslow 595 575 580 670 625 800 740 
			 Kingston upon Thames 425 430 415 520 545 605 650 
			 Merton 470 520 580 595 630 660 690 
			 Redbridge 680 660 680 705 810 815 805 
			 Richmond upon Thames 650 635 665 755 700 920 940 
			 Sutton 465 450 440 520 480 505 585 
			 Waltham Forest 580 495 585 600 595 620 600 
			 
			 Inner London
			 City of London 705 745 860 1,055 1,130 1,090 1,040 
			 Camden 2,240 2,980 2,625 2,525 2,530 2,720 2,320 
			 Hackney 725 695 770 790 785 890 900 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 615 600 635 765 820 1,005 1,005 
			 Haringey 665 725 745 770 795 795 830 
			 Islington 940 1,240 1,465 1,430 1,280 1,425 1,505 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 795 825 885 955 830 930 1,030 
			 Lambeth 615 640 650 670 655 685 765 
			 Lewisham 470 440 485 475 465 520 555 
			 Newham 445 440 430 420 445 455 495 
			 Southwark 685 700 695 745 735 790 915 
			 Tower Hamlets 710 695 680 810 800 800 885 
			 Wandsworth 770 760 825 920 920 1,000 1,035 
			 Westminster 3,150 3,620 3,970 4,290 4,170 4,475 5,190 
			 
			 London total 26,155 28,310 29,245 30,900 30,760 33,215 34,565 
		
	
	Source:
	VAT Registrations and De-registrations 1994–2003, Small Business Service, available from http://www.sbs.gov.uk/vats
	VAT de-registrations do not give a complete picture of business closures. Businesses that de-register will not necessarily have closed. For example, they might continue to trade but at a turnover level below the VAT threshold. Only 1.8 million out of 4 million enterprises were registered for VAT at the start of 2003.

Community Interest Companies

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the likely level of use that will be made of the new community interest companies in the management of voluntary organisations in England.

Alun Michael: As stated in the Regulatory Impact Assessment prepared for the Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004, take-up of community interest companies is hard to estimate given the lack of overall data on start-ups in the social enterprise sector. We expect that the community interest companies will be used initially mainly by new enterprises, rather than existing organisations which are already operating through an existing legal form. Our working assumption is that initially there may be between 100 and 300 new community interest companies registering each year. This figure was considered low by some of those who responded to consultation, but they did not produce any evidence on which to base a different forecast of initial take-up. The management of voluntary organisations seems to me to be a quite sophisticated issue.

Export Control Organisation

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with the trades unions over the future of the Export Arms Sales Unit.

Malcolm Wicks: I am in the process of arranging such discussions.

MG Rover

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the Government will publish in full the findings of the Financial Reporting Council into the finances of MG-Rover; and when the Council is expected to report.

Ian Pearson: My then right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced on 31 May the appointment of inspectors to investigate and report on the affairs of MG Rover Group, including Phoenix Venture Holdings Ltd. and MGR Capital Ltd. It is intended that the inspectors will do their work as quickly as possible and their report will be published.
	The FRRP have not published their report and the Government have been advised that to do so would be prejudicial to those potentially affected by it and to the regulatory process.

Small Businesses (London)

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the average income was of a small business in (a) Brent East and (b) each London borough in each year since 1997.

Alun Michael: Data on the average profit or gross value added of all small businesses are not available. Turnover gives an alternative indication of the income of a business; it corresponds to the market sales of goods and services, excluding VAT. Figures on the average turnover of small businesses are only available at the national and regional level. They are not available for Brent East or any London borough separately.
	The average turnover of a small business (defined as a business with zero to 49 employees) in the UK in each year since 1997 is as follows:
	
		
			 In UK at the start of: Average turnover(16)/£1,000: 
		
		
			 1997 193 
			 1998 202 
			 1999 201 
			 2000 205 
			 2001 206 
			 2002 216 
			 2003 215 
		
	
	(16) Excludes turnover in financial intermediation.
	The average turnover of a small business based in London in each year since 1997 is as follows:
	
		
			 Based in London at the start of: Average turnover(17)/£1,000: 
		
		
			 1997 354 
			 1998 330 
			 1999 282 
			 2000 (18)— 
			 2001 276 
			 2002 (18)— 
			 2003 312 
		
	
	(17) Excludes turnover in financial intermediation.
	(18) London figures for 2000 and 2002 are not available.
	Source:
	Small Business Service Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Statistics, www.sbs.gov.uk/smes
	The average turnover of a small business in the UK at the start of 2004 will be available in August 2005.

THORP Plant

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what period of time elapsed between instruments at the Thorp plant indicating that a leak of radioactive material was occurring and the decision being taken to close the facility.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 13 June 2005
	British Nuclear Group Sellafield Ltd. suspended operations at THORP as soon as it became clear to them that a leak was occurring. However the results of BNGSL's investigation suggests that the pipe may have started to fail in August 2004 and that complete failure of the pipe may have occurred in mid January 2005. Opportunities such as cell sampling and level measurements were missed which would have shown that material was escaping to secondary containment.
	A British Nuclear Group investigation has made recommendations to improve the maintenance, testing and reliability of cell instrumentation and other systems that give indications of plant abnormality. A separate independent investigation by the Health & Safety Executive's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate is considering both technical issues and broader safety culture and management of nuclear safety issues, and this will provide the basis for any subsequent enforcement actions.

Motorway Fencing

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what criteria he uses to determine whether a particular stretch of motorway should have fencing installed alongside the carriageway; how many miles of motorway in England and Wales have met such criteria; and how many miles of fencing have been erected to date.

Stephen Ladyman: The Secretary of State for Transport is responsible for the strategic road network, comprising motorways and high-speed all-purpose trunk roads, in England. The National Assembly for Wales is responsible for roads in Wales.
	Fencing designed to control the spread of traffic noise is often provided on the strategic road network to mitigate the effects of increased traffic noise arising from both newly constructed and substantially improved strategic roads. The need for these is considered as part of the assessment of the overall impact of the scheme on the surrounding environment. There are no specific criteria, but a judgment is made about their cost-effectiveness, taking into consideration the sensitivity of the area and the number of people affected, compared with the alternative of providing statutory insulation of residential properties meeting the criteria specified in the Noise Insulation Regulations 1975.
	In addition, this type of fencing has been provided at a number of locations meeting sift criteria announced on 22 March 1999 in conjunction with a £5 million annual ring-fenced budget.
	To date, various lengths of fencing have been provided to protect groups of properties within 26 locations on the strategic road network, that qualified for consideration under the sift criteria identified in the announcement. A further four locations will have barriers provided this year. Information on the exact lengths of fencing that have been provided at these locations is not held centrally.

Pedicabs/Rickshaws

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what injuries have occurred to passengers in pedicabs and rickshaws in the last 12 months.

Karen Buck: The information requested is not available. Information regarding accidents involving pedicabs or rickshaws are not separately identified in the Department's road accident collection system. Pedicabs or rickshaws are included in other vehicles whose body type is categorised as "pedal cycle".

Animal Welfare

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what standards for animal welfare will apply to agri-environmental schemes under the England Rural Development Programme from 2007–08; and what discretion she has to seek derogations from EU standards.

Jim Knight: Negotiations on the draft Rural Development Regulation are expected to reach a conclusion at the Agriculture Council on 20–22 June. We expect that an animal welfare measure will—as now—be among the options available to member states; although not as part of a combined agri-environment and animal welfare measure. Decisions on whether to make payments under this measure from 2007 are part of the process of designing a successor Rural Development Programme, and will be taken in the light of responses to a full consultation this autumn. There will be difficult choices to make about how best to allocate limited resources but will bear in mind the importance of ensuring that legal animal welfare requirements are fully adhered to.

Foot and Mouth

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what response she will make to the main findings of the cost-benefit study of foot and mouth disease control strategies, with particular reference to vaccination.

Ben Bradshaw: The report indicates the overall size and cost of any future outbreaks are very likely to be less than in 2001 because there are now fewer movements of livestock, we have a movement stand still and there would be an immediate national movement ban and swift implementation of the revised contingency plan when foot and mouth disease (FMD) is first detected. It therefore supports the steps the Government have taken since 2001 to manage the risk of another outbreak.
	Overall, the report suggests that vaccination reduces the size and extent of medium and large outbreaks—although at an additional financial cost in all but the largest outbreaks.
	The basic disease control policy required under the new EU FMD Directive remains the slaughter of all susceptible animals on premises infected with FMD and those identified as "dangerous contacts". However, the Directive gives greater prominence to the potential use of emergency vaccination, as an additional control measure to culling.
	The Government will consider emergency vaccination as a disease control option from the start of any outbreak of FMD; on the basis of vaccinate to live, wherever possible. This is in line with the recommendations of the main FMD Inquiries.
	The Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) will help us gauge which disease control option we should use in which circumstance. It will also help us plan resources for an outbreak and generally improve our understanding of the costs of different disease control policies.
	The CBA report does not, however, propose a unique single strategy for dealing with a future outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD).
	The epidemiological and economic information the report provides, will be used to help determine the most appropriate control strategy or strategies to regain FMD-free status without routine vaccination under a range of defined circumstances, should the disease break out in the future.

Hazardous Waste

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many convictions have been secured by the Environment Agency's for fly-tipping of hazardous waste since 16 July 2004.

Ben Bradshaw: There have been four such convictions since 16 July 2004. However, the Environment Agency follows the general principles set out in its Enforcement and Prosecutions Policy which means that preventative or remedial action is taken to protect the environment or to secure compliance with the regulatory system governing waste.
	During July 2004 to April 2005 the agency dealt with 527 fly-tipping incidents involving asbestos or chemical drums/oil/fuel.

Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many and what percentage of staff in her Department have received training on the general and specific duties of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, broken down by (a) ethnicity and (b) grade.

Jim Knight: The Race Relations (Amendment) Act (RRA) 2000 places a general duty on Government Departments to have regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination and to promote equality of opportunity and good relations between people of different racial groups.
	In line with the specific duties imposed the Department published a Race Equality Scheme which set out how the Department planned to meet the duties imposed; including those relating to training; The Department is committed to ensuring that its staff are properly trained so that they can make equality and diversity core issues to their work, whatever their area of responsibility. Specialist equal opportunities training for those working in areas which impacted directly on people was provided to 262 staff in the last financial year. The grade and ethnicity breakdown is as follows:
	
		
			  White Asian Black Mixed Other Unknown Total 
		
		
			 SCS 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 
			 G6 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 
			 G7 19 2 0 0 1 8 30 
			 SEO 6 0 0 0 0 4 10 
			 HEO 33 2 2 0 0 11 48 
			 EO 43 4 8 3 1 16 75 
			 AO 47 7 6 0 0 17 77 
			 AA 8 0 2 2 0 7 19 
			 Total 157 15 18 5 3 64 262 
		
	
	Training on issues relating to race, and other key equality areas are incorporated into a range of learning opportunities, including comprehensive information and guidance on the Departments internal website. The Diversity and Equality Unit have provided a number of presentations to Business Units (over 100 staff) and have used these to facilitate discussions on a number of equality issues. These included work required within business units to address the duties arising from the RRA and other equality legislation e.g. the impending duties relating to disability.
	Specific training on the duties arising from the RRA delivered through an external consultant were provided to staff working in areas identified in the Race Equality Scheme as relevant to the RRA. The seminars provided an overview of the responsibilities arising from the RRA as well as guidance on mainstreaming race equality in policy development and in service delivery. Feedback from recent workshops which was specifically targeted at senior managers is currently being evaluated. It will be used to inform the work under way to review the Race Equality Scheme and future strategies for providing staff with the required training. Details of staff attending specific Race Relations training is as follows:
	
		
			  White Asian Black Mixed Other Unknown Total 
		
		
			 SCS 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 
			 G6 10 0 0 0 0 0 10 
			 G7 28 0 0 1 0 4 12 
			 SEO 29 0 0 0 0 1 30 
			 HEO 63 0 3 1 1 1 69 
			 EO 36 1 2 1 0 0 99 
			 AO 18 0 5 0 0 2 25 
			 AA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Total 186 1 10 3 1 8 247 
		
	
	Currently the Department is unable to comprehensively monitor attendance at all training events. The new Human Resource database which was introduced in July 2004 should enable such monitoring in the future. However the module that will provide this functionality has not yet been rolled out. Data are therefore only available for courses which were organised centrally. As a result we are unable to provide details of attendees at locally organised events which were arranged by Business Units to provide staff with training on the specific duties arising within their work area, although we are aware of a number of such events. This information should be available in the future.

Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what arrangements are in place to ensure that bodies within the responsibility of her Department comply with the requirements of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000.

Jim Knight: The Race Relations (Amendment Act) 2000 places the general duty on a large number of specified public authorities. The core Department's Race Equality Scheme covers the Departments two smallest Executive Agencies, the Pesticides Safety Directorate and the Veterinary Medicines Directorate. The remaining Executive Agencies have produced Agency specific Schemes using the core Department's Scheme as a model. Annual progress reports are produced and the Schemes are discussed regularly as part of an ongoing review process.
	In addition the Home Secretary has made Orders under the Act to place the 'specific duties' on named public authorities. These include a number of non departmental public bodies for which Defra has responsibility in the following table. Although these Bodies are not required to produce a Race Equality Scheme they are expected to follow the lead of the core Department in addressing the general duties imposed. This list is updated periodically in consultation with the CRE and other Government departments and amended to take account of new Bodies and to delete defunct Bodies.
	The Department's Race Equality Scheme is currently being reviewed and as part of this work we will be working closely with all bodies for which we have responsibility to ensure that due regard is taken of the duties imposed by the Act. The Commission for Racial Equality has reviewed the Race Equality Scheme and have commented favourably on a number of areas. Any areas highlighted as requiring additional action will be addressed as part of the current review of the Scheme.
	
		
			  Original order Schedule 1A General duty Employment Equality scheme 
		
		
			 Executive non-departmental public bodies  
			 NDPB  
			 (England and Wales) (AWB) — Yes Yes No No 
			 Agricultural Wages Committee (England) (AWC) — Yes Yes No No 
			 Apple and Pear Research Council (APRC) — No No No No 
			 British Potato Council (BPC) — Yes Yes Yes No 
			 Countryside Agency — Yes Yes Yes No 
			 English Nature (EN) — Yes Yes Yes No 
			 Environment Agency (EA) — Yes Yes Yes No 
			 Food for Britain (FFB) — Yes Yes Yes No 
			 Home-Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA) — Yes Yes Yes No 
			 Horticultural Development Council (HOC) — Yes Yes Yes No 
			 Horticultural Research Institute (HRI) — Non statutory No No No 
			 Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) — No No No No 
			 Meat and Livestock Commission (MLC) — Yes Yes Yes No 
			 Milk Development Council (MDC) — Yes Yes Yes No 
			 National Forest Company (MFC) — Yes Yes Yes No 
			 Regional Flood Defence Committees — Yes Yes Yes No 
			 Royal Botanic Gardens Kew (RBG Kew) — Yes Yes Yes No 
			 Sea Fish Industry Authority (SFIA) — Yes Yes Yes No 
			 United Kingdom Register of Organic Food Standards (UKROFS) — Non statutory No No No 
			 Wine Standards Board of the Vinters' Company (WSB) — Yes Yes Yes No 
			   
			 Advisory NDPBs  
			 Advisory Committee on Business and the Environment (ACBE) — No No No No 
			 Advisory Committee on Consumer Products and the Environment (ACCPE) — No legal status No No No 
			 Advisory Committee on Hazardous Substances (ACHS) — Yes Yes No No 
			 Advisory Committee on Packaging — No No No No 
			 Advisory Committee on Pesticides (ACP) — Yes Yes No No 
			 Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (of genetically modified organisms) (ACRE) — Yes Yes No No 
			 Agricultural Dwelling House Advisory Committees (ADHACs) — Yes Yes No No 
			 Agricultural Waste Stakeholders' Forum — 
			 Air Quality Expert Group (replaces the former Airborne Particles Expert Group) — No No No No 
			 Air Quality Forum — No No No No 
			 Committee of Investigation for Great Britain — 
			 Committee on Agricultural Valuation — No No No No 
			 Committee on Products and Processes — No No No No 
			 Consumers' Committee for Great Britain under the Agricultural Marketing Act 1958 — No No No No 
			 Darwin Advisory Committee (the Darwin Initiative) — No No No No 
			 Expert Group on Cryptosporidium in — 
			 Water Supplies — No No No No 
			 Expert panel on Air Quality Standards — No No No No 
			 Expert panel on Sustainable Development Education — No No No No 
			 Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC) — Non statutory
			 Government/Industry Forum on Non-Food Use Crops — No No No No 
			 Hill Farming Advisory Committee for England, Wales and NI — No No No No 
			 Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB — No No No No 
			 Inland Waterways Amenity Advisory Council — Yes Yes No No 
			 National Expert Group on Transboundary Air Pollution — No No No No 
			 Pesticide Residues Committee — No No No No 
			 Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee — No No No No 
			 Regional Environment Protection Advisory Committees — — — — — 
			 Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution — Yes No No No 
			 Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee — No No No No 
			 Sustainable Development Commission — No No No No 
			 Trade Union Sustainable Development Advisory Committee (TUSDAC) — No No No No 
			 Veterinary Products Committee — No No No No 
			 Water Regulations Advisory Committee (WRAC) — No No No No 
			 Zoos Forum — No NO No No 
			   
			 Public Corporations  
			 British Waterways — Yes Yes Yes No 
			 Covent Garden Market Authority — Yes Yes Yes No 
			   
			 Tribunals and other bodies 
			 Agricultural Land Tribunals — All judicial bodies are exempt   
			 British Wool Marketing Board — Yes Yes Yes no 
			 Commons Commissioners  All judicial bodies are exempt   
			 Dairy Produce Quota Tribunal — — — — — 
			 Plant Varieties and Seeds Tribunal — All judicial bodies are exempt   
			 British Wool Marketing Board — Yes Yes Yes No 
			  
			 Chemicals Stakeholder Forum — No No No No 
			 Hazardous Waste Forum — No No No No 
			 National Parks and Boards Authorities — Yes Yes Yes  
			 National Rural Development Forum — No No No No 
			 Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime — No No No No 
			 Pesticides Forum — No No No No 
			 UK Biodiversity Group — No No No No 
			   
			 Defra and its Agencies 
			 Defra Yes — Yes Yes Yes 
			 PSD Yes — Yes Yes Covered by Defra scheme 
			 VMD Yes — Yes Yes Covered by Defra scheme 
			 VLA Yes — Yes Yes Yes 
			 CSL Yes — Yes Yes Yes 
			 CEFAS Yes — Yes Yes Yes 
			 RPA Yes — Yes Yes To be covered by Defra scheme from 2004

Recycling

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much plastic per person was recycled in (a) Brent East and (b) each London borough in each year since 1997.

Ben Bradshaw: The following table shows the amount of plastic per person collected for recycling by local authorities as reported to the Defra annual survey of Municipal Waste Management. These figures underestimate the total amount of plastics collected for recycling since some authorities collect an unknown amount of plastics for recycling as part of a mixed (co-mingled) collection of recyclables:
	
		Plastics recycling
		
			 kg per capita 
			  1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 Barking and Dagenham — — — — — — — 
			 Barnet — — — — (21)— 0.1 0.1 
			 Bexley — — — — 0.1 0.2 0.4 
			 Brent — — — — — — ~ 
			 Bromley — — — — 0.1 0.4 1.1 
			 Camden (21)— (21)— — 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.1 
			 City of London — — — — — — — 
			 Croydon — — — — — — — 
			 Ealing (21)— — — — (21)— 0.3 0.5 
			 Enfield — — — — — — 1.2 
			 Greenwich 0.2 — — — — — — 
			 Hackney — — — — — — — 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham — — — — — — — 
			 Haringey — — — — — — — 
			 Harrow — — — — — — — 
			 Havering — — — 0.1 1.0 — — 
			 Hillingdon — — — — — — 0.1 
			 Hounslow 0.1 — — — — — — 
			 Islington — — — — — — — 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 0.3 0.2 0.5 0.5 0.7 0.6  
			 Kingston upon Thames — 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 — 5.2 
			 Lambeth — — — — — — — 
			 Lewisham — — — — — — (21)— 
			 Merton — — — — — — — 
			 Newham — — — — — (21)— — 
			 Redbridge — 0.2 0.9 0.2 0.3 0.4 — 
			 Richmond upon Thames — 0.1 — — — — — 
			 Southwark — — — — — — — 
			 Sutton 0.3 0.3 1.2 0.6 0.4 — — 
			 Tower Hamlets — — — — — — — 
		
	
	(21) Represents less than 0.05kg per capita.
	Note:
	1. The results shown are for plastics only waste recycling collections—excludes unknown amount of material collected through co-mingled recyclable collections.
	2. In addition to the figures a small proportion of plastics recycling is collected through London Waste Disposal Authority run Civic Amenity Sites. As this only amounts to approximately 0.1 per cent. of all plastic only recycling, an attempt to record and apportion this small tonnage has not been made.

Waste Management

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what definition (a) her Department, (b) the European Commission and (c) the European Environment Agency uses for (i) biodegradable waste, (ii) municipal waste, (iii) commercial waste, (iv) hazardous waste, (v) industrial waste, (vi) recycling, (vii) recovery, (viii) composting and (ix) waste minimisation.

Ben Bradshaw: Where terms are defined in European Community (EC) law, that definition is used by the Department, the European Commission and the European Environment Agency. EU directives, including their definitions, are binding on member states and their "competent authorities". The European Commission is responsible for ensuring the implementation of directives, assisted by the objective and comparable information provided by the European Environment Agency. In the case of terms for which a relevant definition is not provided by Community law, the Department uses national definitions. The following definitions are in use:
	(i) "Biodegradable waste" is defined in Article 2(m) of the EC Landfill Directive (Council Directive 1999/31/EC) (LFD);
	(ii) "Municipal waste" is defined in Article 2(b) of the LFD. Where the term is used in a context other than implementation of the LFD, the Department uses the appropriate national definition;
	(iii) "Commercial waste" is a national term which is defined in section 75(7) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, with refinement provided by regulation 6 of and Schedule 4 to the Controlled Waste Regulations 1992;
	(iv) "Hazardous waste" is defined in Article 1(4) of the EC Hazardous Waste Directive (Council Directive 91/689/EEC);
	(v) "Industrial waste" is a national term which is defined in section 75(6) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, with refinement provided by regulation 5 of and Schedule 3 to the Controlled Waste Regulations 1992;
	(vi) "Recycling" is a term which is used but is not defined in the EC Waste Framework Directive (Council Directive 75/442/EEC as amended) (WFD). While there is no common definition of "recycling" in Community law, there are definitions of "recycling" in the EC Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (Directive 94/62/EC as amended), the EC End of Life Vehicles Directive (Directive 2000/53/EC) (ELV) and the EC Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (Directive 2002/96/EC as amended) (WEEE). These definitions apply for the purposes of each of these directives;
	(vii) "Recovery" is defined in Article 1(f) of the WFD by reference to Annex MB of that directive. For the purposes of the Packaging and Packaging Waste, ELV and WEEE directives, the definition of "recovery" is limited to the "applicable operations" in Annex MB to the WFD;
	(viii) "Composting" is used but is not defined in the WFD. However, the list of recovery operations in Annex IIB to the WFD includes at R3 "Recycling/reclamation of organic substances which are not used as solvents (including composting and other biological transformation processes)"; and
	(ix) "Waste minimisation" is not defined in either Community or national legislation.

Waste Management

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much public money was spent on municipal waste management in (a) 2003–04 and (b) 2002–03; and how many tonnes of municipal waste were recycled in (i) 2003–04 and (ii) 2002–03.

Ben Bradshaw: In 2002–03 4.6 million tonnes of municipal waste were recycled, rising to 5.5 million tonnes in 2003–04. The net revenue expenditure on municipal waste management is shown in the following table:
	
		
			   £ 
			  2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 Waste collection 752,143,000 865,098,000 
			 Waste disposal 1,054,541,000 1,139,041,000 
			 Total waste management 1,806,684,000 2,004,139,000

Apache Helicopters

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he plans (a) to marinise the fleet of Apache helicopters against salt corrosion and (b) to allow the aircraft to operate from Royal Navy vessels.

Adam Ingram: A range of maritime modifications will be applied to the Apache AH Mk 1 fleet to enable it to operate from Royal Navy ships and Royal Fleet Auxiliary support vessels, including an enhanced corrosion protection scheme.

Iraq

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects British troops to complete the present mission in Iraq; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The United Kingdom is committed to remaining in Iraq for as long as the Iraqi Government judge that the coalition is required to provide security and assist the Iraqi Security Forces. United Nations Security Council Resolution 1546, which provides the present legal basis for the coalition presence in Iraq, makes clear the mandate for multi-national forces will expire upon the completion of the current political process, and will be terminated earlier if requested by the Government of Iraq.

UK Energy Supplies

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent discussions he has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and (b) others on the security of gas supplies to the UK which are imported from abroad.

Adam Ingram: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence has not had any specific discussions with his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Mr. Johnson) or others in regards to the security of gas supplies to the UK. Ministry of Defence officials continue to be engaged in DTI and FCO work on a range of energy security matters.

UK Energy Supplies

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what assessment he made of requirements to protect UK access to pipelines and gas supplies in his decision to decommission the three Type-23 frigates;
	(2)  what the role of Type 23 destroyers is in the protection of UK energy supplies; if he will reverse the decision to decommission three of the fleet; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The Defence White Paper set out our analysis of the future security environment, of which one element was the potential for developments which could impact upon the security and stability of regions which contribute to global energy supplies.
	The analysis of the future security environment formed the baseline against which the decision to rebalance and optimise the force structure was taken, including the decision to decommission three Type-23 frigates, as set out in Delivering Security in a Changing World, "Future Capabilities" (Cm 6260).
	The new force structure has been designed to meet the broad range of operational demands we might expect in the future, through a range of inherently flexible and adaptable capabilities.

Asylum Seekers

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he plans to meet the French Government to discuss the setting up in France of offices where applicants for asylum in the UK could make an application to British officials; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, has no plans to meet with the French Government to discuss the setting up in France of offices where applicants for asylum in the UK could make an application to British officials. It is accepted internationally that asylum seekers should seek asylum in the first safe country they reach. Where juxtaposed controls are in operation, it is clearly established in all instances that the host State should remain responsible for those claiming asylum at such controls, so that an asylum application made at the UK controls in France will be handled by the French authorities and vice versa.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  when he will reply to the letters from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to (a) Mr. Mollan Orlando Bell, dated 29 March, (b) Vinleslav Cahalo, dated 30 March, (c) Mr. Anisuzzaman Milon, dated 4 April and (d) Mr. M. Osman Mohammoud, dated 14 February;
	(2)  when he will answer the letter to him dated 29 March from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. Mollan Orlando Bell.

Charles Clarke: The information requested is as follows.
	(a) I replied to my right hon. Friend on 14 June.
	(b) I replied to my right hon. Friend on 25 May.
	(c) I replied to my right hon. Friend on 24 May.
	(d) My hon. Friend, the Minister for Race Equality, Community Policy and Civil Renewal (Paul Goggins) wrote to my right hon. Friend on 24 February.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  when he will answer the letter to him dated 22 April from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. Nisar Ahmed;
	(2)  when he will answer the letter dated 22 April from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. Nisar Ahmo.

Charles Clarke: I replied to my right hon. Friend on 9 June 2005.

Violent Crime (Pembrokeshire)

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many violent crimes have been recorded in Pembrokeshire in each year since 1997.

Hazel Blears: The available information relates to the Pembrokeshire Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) area and is given in the tables. Data at CDRP level is only available from 1999–2000.
	
		Table 1: Violent crimes recorded by the police in the Pembrokeshire Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership area, 1999–2000 to 2001–02
		
			  Number of offences 
		
		
			 1999–2000 1,273 
			 2000–01 1,341 
			 2001–02 1,239 
		
	
	Note:
	The data in this table is prior to the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard. These figures are not directly comparable with those for later years.
	
		Table 2: Violent crimes recorded by the police in the Pembrokeshire Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership area, 2002–03 and 2003–04
		
			  Number of offences 
		
		
			 2002–03 1,402 
			 2003–04 2,120 
		
	
	Note:
	The data in this table takes account of the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These figures are not directly comparable with those for earlier years.

Members of Parliament (Judicial Positions)

Vera Baird: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether hon. Members will continue to be eligible to sit as recorders of the Crown court.

Harriet Harman: There are no plans to disbar hon. Members from sitting in the Crown court as recorders. While full-time judicial office holders and some fee-paid judges are disqualified form sitting in both Houses, the Lord Chancellor does not feel that it is incompatible for recorders, deputy district judges, including magistrates' courts, and magistrates to discharge their judicial duties in parallel with their parliamentary and political responsibilities, provided they do nothing in their judicial capacity to suggest political partiality.

Acquis Communautaire

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the Government's estimate is of the size of the acquis communautaire; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: holding answer 14 June 2005
	The acquis communautaire consists of the principles, practices, policies, obligations, objectives and legal and other acts that have been agreed or have been developed over the years by the European Union and the European Communities. These include, in particular, the EU Treaties in their entirety, as well as all existing EU legislation and Court of Justice judgments.
	The acquis ranges over virtually all policy areas and its content develops over time. To try to estimate its "size" would be as meaningless as to try to estimate the "size" of UK law.

China

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the effects of the UK position on lifting the EU embargo on arms sales to China on (a) the UK balance of trade with the USA and (b) the UK arms industry.

Kim Howells: The Government are concerned about the possibility of legislation being introduced by the US Congress and the effect that this may have on UK companies' future export sales and strategies. We are making and shall continue to make our views known to the US Administration and Congress to ensure that UK exports are not negatively affected as a result of any future lift of the EU embargo on arms sales to China. The European Council in December 2004 concluded that any decision on the arms embargo should not lead to
	"an increase in arms exports from EU Member States to China, neither in quantitative nor in qualitative terms".
	Proposed exports from the UK defence industry to China will continue to be subject to the EU code of conduct, which is, and will remain, the key to controlling EU arms exports to China.

East Timor

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of whether British citizens Malcolm Rennie and Brian Peters, who died at Balibo, East Timor, on 16 October 1975, were murdered; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is unable to make an assessment about whether these two British citizens were murdered. The author of a report commissioned by the Australian Government in 1999 (the Sherman Report) concluded that he had
	" . . . never reached the stage of concluding that the Balibo 5 [of which Brian Peters and Malcolm Rennie were two] were murdered . . . "

East Timor

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether his Department has met the relatives of Malcolm Rennie and Brian Peters to inquire into the security of the United Nations' police files on their case; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: My hon. Friend the former Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. O'Brien) met relatives of Malcolm Rennie and Brian Peters in September 2003 and March 2004. We have since made representations to both the UN and to the Government of Timor Leste (East Timor) about the future security of these and other files.

East Timor

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what correspondence he has had with Indonesia's (a) Foreign Minister and (b) ambassador regarding the case of Malcolm Rennie and Brian Peters; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: This case was raised in 2004 by my hon. Friend the former Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. O'Brien), with both Indonesia's Foreign Minister and the then Indonesian ambassador.

Electoral Reform (Africa)

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo concerning (a) the constitutional reform process, (b) the next phase of the transition arrangements and (c) ensuring that the forthcoming referendum, presidential and legislative elections are transparent, free and fair.

Ian Pearson: We and international partners worked closely with members of the Congolese Government and Parliament on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)'s new constitution before its adoption on 16 May 2005. We continue to press the DRC Government and Independent Electoral Commission to establish soon a realistic electoral calendar and begin voter registration. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development (Hilary Benn) and my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Lord Triesman of Tottenham) made these points to the President of the Congolese Parliament on 25 May 2005. We have contributed £5 million to the United Nations Trust Fund supporting elections, as part of a wider package. We are discussing with partners how best to ensure the security and integrity of these elections.

EU Constitution

John Maples: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what work is being done by (a) his Department and (b) the EU Commission on proposals for (i) an EU Diplomatic Service, (ii) an EU President, (iii) an EU Foreign Minister, (iv) an EU Defence Agency and (v) implementation of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights; what the legal basis is in each case; and when work began.

Douglas Alexander: holding answer 13 June 2005
	There have been official level discussions between member states, the Commission and the Council Secretariat on preparations for a "European External Action Service" since October 2004. No conclusions have been drawn. The Commission and the High Representative have produced an "issues paper" and progress report on the European External Action Service. This preparatory work was specifically requested by the Heads of State and Government in October 2004 and December 2004.
	No work has been undertaken by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office regarding the proposed posts of the European Council President and EU Foreign Minister beyond internal analysis of the implications of these proposals for the UK. It is not for the Government to comment on any internal work by the Commission on either of these two posts.
	The European Defence Agency was established in June 2004 under the provisions of the Treaty on European Union following the unanimous agreement of Heads of State and Government in June 2003. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office contributes to the work of the Ministry of Defence in agreeing work plans for the European Defence Agency. A representative of the European Commission is a member of the European Defence Agency Steering Board, and the Agency liaises with the Commission in its work on the European defence industry and security research.
	The Charter of Fundamental Rights would be implemented in the UK by the Bill proposed to give effect to the Constitutional Treaty (the European Union Bill). The Government's current intentions with regard to that Bill were set out by the Foreign Secretary in his statement to the House on 6 June 2005, Official Report, columns 991–92, on the EU Constitutional Treaty.

Uzbekistan

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the United States Administration regarding the human rights record of the Government of Uzbekistan.

Douglas Alexander: On 17 May 2005 my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discussed recent events in Andijan with US Secretary of State Rice in Washington. Like the UK, the US has condemned reports of the Uzbek Government's disproportionate use of force in Andijan and has called for an independent, international investigation into Andijan. On 8 June 2005 the State Department press spokesman, Sean McCormack, noted that there had been many reliable eyewitness accounts of Uzbek forces shooting civilians, and that it was now clear hundreds of innocent civilians had been killed. He also reiterated the US call for an independent, international investigation, stating that it was important
	"to find out what happened, so the Uzbek people know, so the world knows, and so that something like this does not happen again."

Visas

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many individuals were refused visas to visit the UK from (a) India, (b) Pakistan, (c) Bangladesh and (d) Jamaica in the last period for which figures are available, broken down by (i) gender, (ii) age and (iii) marital status.

Kim Howells: UKvisas does not hold statistics about visit visas in the categories requested. The number of visit visas to the UK applied for and refused during 2003–04, was as follows:
	
		
			  April 2003 to March 2004 
			 Visit visas Received Refused 
		
		
			 India 232,519 36,631 
			 Pakistan 83,566 9,032 
			 Bangladesh 24,839 9,839 
			 Jamaica 23,552 10,412 
		
	
	Figures for April 2004 to March 2005 are not yet available. When they are, they can be found, along with further entry clearance statistics, on the UKvisas website at www.ukvisas.gov.uk—"Entry Clearance: Facts and Figures".

Academies

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what new academies are proposed to be built; and what stage discussions with sponsors and local education authorities have reached to date.

Jacqui Smith: There are 17 open Academies with 10 more set to open in September 2005. There are currently proposals for a further 38 Academies being developed. Of these 38 there are 27 Academies that are in the stage of implementation, meaning that a Funding Agreement has been signed between the Secretary of State for Education and the sponsor to establish and maintain the Academy. There are a further 21 projects in the stage of feasibility testing, where the Department investigates and consults whether an Academy is appropriate in an area once a sponsor has been selected and the LEA confirms it wishes to be involved.
	In addition there are around 140 projects in early stages of development where the Department explores whether an Academy can be established in an area in partnership with an LEA and/or predecessor school.

Bullying

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Behaviour Improvement Programme on (a) behaviour, (b) bullying, (c) antisocial behaviour, (d) attendance and (e) truancy.

Jacqui Smith: In his 2003/04 annual report, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools said that
	"The government's Behaviour Improvement Programme is effective in the large majority of schools in which it is in place".
	My Department has commissioned the London University Institute of Education to carry out a detailed evaluation of the programme. The results will be published this autumn.

Children's Fund

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the allocation from the Children's Fund was in each of the last four financial years (a) in total and (b) for each recipient authority.

Beverley Hughes: There are 149 Children's Fund partnerships based in each local authority area in England, responsible for delivering a range of preventative services for children and young people aged 5–13. The fund was rolled out in three waves from April 2001 to March 2005 onwards and I have placed in the Library a full list of allocations made to Children's Fund partnerships, totalling well over £500 million for that period.
	Following the last Spending Review, Children's Fund partnerships have been allocated £411.5 million over the three years 2005–06 to 2007–08.

Personalised Learning

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  if she will make a statement on progress on introducing personalised learning for secondary school pupils;
	(2)  when she expects all secondary school pupils to have access to a personalised package of learning;
	(3)  what role her Department will play in implementing personalised packages of learning for secondary school pupils;
	(4)  whether the Department will introduce targets for the implementation of personalised packages of learning;
	(5)  what assessment she has made of the (a) financial and (b) personnel resources needed to introduce personalised packages of learning for secondary school pupils;
	(6)  what assessment she has made of the training required for teachers to introduce personalised packages of learning for secondary school pupils; and what plans she has to implement this.

Jacqui Smith: Through the Five Year Strategy for Children and Learning and the 14–19 White Paper we have embarked on an ambitious long-term agenda to personalise the education system to meet the needs of all pupils. A central element of that is the idea of "Personalised Learning"—tailoring educational provision to individual needs, interests and aptitudes so that every young person can receive a personalised package of learning and support to enable them to fulfil their potential.
	Personalised learning has five key components that offer a framework for implementation:
	assessment for learning;
	effective teaching and learning strategies;
	curriculum entitlement, choice and flexibility;
	school organisation for personalisation;
	partnership beyond the school to remove barriers to learning.
	Personalised Learning is not new, nor is it a discreet package or programme to be delivered in isolation. Many schools and teachers have tailored the curriculum and teaching methods to meet the needs of pupils with great success for many years. We will continue to support schools through the continuous professional development provision provided by the National Strategies, our workforce remodelling and forthcoming curricula reforms.

Prison Education

Philip Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many prisoners are registered on prison education programmes.

Phil Hope: The Prison Service does not collect centrally individual information on prisoners participating in learning and skills through its contracts with education providers.
	However, a 2003 report published by the Learning and Skills Development Agency ("Education, Training, Assessment and Learner Support in HM Prisons and Young Offender Institutions"), found that 39 per cent. of prisoners were engaged in education and training.

Race Relations (Amendment) Act

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what arrangements are in place to ensure that bodies within the responsibility of her Department comply with the requirements of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000.

Maria Eagle: Our arrangements involve mainstreaming Race Equality Impact Assessments into the policy-making process for all of our programmes and policies. On line guidance is available to policy teams in our equality proofing web tool "Fairway".
	DfES provides strategic direction to delivery partners. Our key delivery partners have their own Race Equality Schemes. We require partners who implement DfES policies to fulfil the requirements of the Race Relations Amendment Act.
	Further details can be found in the recently published DfES Race Equality Scheme and its summary of Race Equality Impact Assessments on the DfES website.

School Meals

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answers of 13 June 2005, ref. 3581, what proportion of the £220 million funding grant to transform school meals is intended for (a) food ingredients and (b) re-training of school catering staff.

Jacqui Smith: Over the three years 2005–06 to 2007–08, all maintained schools in England will receive a share of the £220 million set aside to help local education authorities and schools strengthen their support for healthy eating and to provide better quality food. Of this, £30 million each year will go to schools. This money will not be ring-fenced, but it is intended to help meet transitional costs involved in developing and improving their "whole school" approach to food. This might include, for example, revisiting the whole school approach, reviewing meals provision, retraining school meals staff or preparing for "healthy schools" accreditation.
	£30/50/50 million will go to LEAs, ring-fenced for improving the quality of school meals and other food provided by schools, with an emphasis on supporting schools in deprived areas and schools starting from a low base. The first call on this money will be transition funding to help schools provide meals with ingredients costing 50p or more in primary schools, and 60p or more in secondary schools.
	The first instalment of this additional funding will be available to schools and LEAs this autumn. Further details about the distribution of both grants between individual LEAs and schools will be announced over the summer.

School Standards

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps she will take to make parents partners in raising school standards.

Jacqui Smith: There is a wealth of evidence that parental involvement in their children's education (in the form of good parenting in the home) has a strong and positive impact on their child's education, even controlling for other factors that influence attainment such as social class. Since 1997, we have sought to enhance parental involvement in children's learning through a range of measures targeted at parents and schools. These include information for parents such as videos, DVDs, the "Learning Journey" guides, the Parents Centre website, and funding for help lines offering advice on educational issues; and materials for schools such as the "Involving Parents, Raising Achievement" toolkit, and others disseminated through the Primary and Key Stage 3 National Strategies. The Government have elevated the priority of effective parental engagement by requiring all schools to address it explicitly within the self evaluation form that will underpin the new inspection regime to take effect from this autumn. Ofsted inspectors will seek the views of parents and must have regard to those views when conducting an inspection. Inspectors will use this information alongside the evidence provided in the self evaluation form to assess how effectively the school is working in partnership with parents. In assessing the quality of provision, inspectors will also evaluate the involvement of parents in their children's learning and development. The new style inspection reports have been designed with parents' needs specifically in mind.
	We are currently considering how we can best capitalise on and further increase the contribution parents make to raising educational standards.

Teacher Training

Gisela Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what the recent change has been in the resources given by the Teacher Training Agency to the Return to Teaching scheme; and what the change in places available for former teachers on training courses will be;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the contribution retrained former teachers have made to the education system in the last 12 months;
	(3)  what assessment she has made of the effect the policy change of the Teacher Training Agency towards the Return to Teaching programme will have on providers of training;
	(4)  if she will list the subjects for which the Teacher Training Agency still fund Return to Teaching courses.

Jacqui Smith: In allocating resources to the Teacher Training Agency, the Secretary of State gives the agency a degree of discretion in how it deploys some of those resources to achieve the recruitment to teacher training and teaching required to meet the targets set it. Each year, the agency considers the data on the enduring challenges to recruitment and adapts its deployment of resources accordingly.
	Slow recruitment to the Returners Programme and falling primary vacancies have led the agency to reduce the sums allocated to the Returners Programme for 2005–06, from £5.5 million to just over £3.5 million, with a target of 1,400 places to be filled compared with the 1,547 places filled (from a target of 2000) in 2004–05. It is properly ensuring that resources deployed secure best value for money.
	The figures are not yet available on the contribution retrained former teachers have made to the education system in the last 12 months. However, for the 12 months to March 2003, according to the DfES survey data, returning teachers made up 29 per cent. of the total inflows to the work force (12,200 out of a total inflow of 41,900). Of these, 1,586 had attended Returners courses.
	Primary Returners course provision has been reduced across the country. Every provider successfully running a course in 2004–05 has a course programme, although the numbers of courses commissioned from some providers has been reduced, to ensure better value for money.
	The TTA are still funding both primary and secondary courses. The subjects offered include all secondary subjects, but providers are asked to prioritise shortage subjects such as maths, science and modern languages.

Agency Nursing Staff

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many agency nurses were employed by the NHS in (a) Haltemprice and Howden, (b) the East Riding of Yorkshire and (c) England in each of the past five years; and at what cost.

Liam Byrne: Information is not available centrally in the form requested, but for England, expenditure on non-national health service nursing, midwifery and health visiting, which includes agency and other staff, is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  £ 
			  England 
		
		
			 1999–2000 361,656,683 
			 2000–01 435,431,882 
			 2001–02 554,323,821 
			 2002–03 589,738,042 
			 2003–04 524,675,129 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. 2003–04 is the latest date for which data is available.
	2. Data relates to non-NHS staff: nursing, midwifery and health visiting, which cannot be broken down further.
	Sources:
	Annual financial returns of health authorities 1999–2000 to 2001–02.
	Annual financial returns of strategic health authorities 2002–03 and 2003–04.
	Annual financial returns of primary care trusts 2000–01 to 2003–04.
	Annual financial returns of NHS trusts 1999–2000 to 2003–04.

Antipsychotic Medication

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prescriptions were issued in each of the last five years for (a) atypical, (b) traditional and (c) all antipsychotic medication in each (i) region and (ii) health authority for (A) 0 to 15 years, (B) 16 to 59 years and (C) 60 years and over age groups.

Jane Kennedy: The information is not available in the requested format.
	Information on the number of prescription items for atypical, traditional and all antipsychotic drugs dispensed in the community in each strategic health authority and primary care trust (PCTs) in England since 2001 has been placed in the Library. Data is not available for 1999 and 2000. The information has been broken down by age groups where possible and the year on year percentage changes recorded.
	The information does not include prescriptions dispensed in hospitals or mental health trusts. Given that a large proportion of antipsychotic medication is dispensed in hospitals and mental health trusts, this data should not be used to compare PCTs' prescribing practices.

Chronic Fatigue

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost was of the research project undertaken by North Bristol NHS trust on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in Chronic Fatigue; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: The project funded by the national health service health technology assessment programme, "Cognitive behavioural therapy in chronic fatigue syndrome: a randomised controlled trial of an outpatient group programme", for which the grant holder is the North Bristol NHS trust, has been allocated a total of £75,432.

Diagnostic and Treatment Centres

Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what checks are made to ensure that private diagnostic and treatment centres are complying with her Department's requirement that none of their staff have worked for the NHS in the preceding six months;
	(2)  whether the restrictions on private diagnostic and treatment centres recruiting NHS staff applies to agency staff working in the NHS.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 13 June 2005
	Independent sector providers report to the Department monthly on a wide range of performance indicators including additionality. Independent sector providers are contractually obliged to ensure that additional staff working in independent sector treatment centres have not worked in the national health service for the previous six months. Regular joint service reviews are conducted on the data that is submitted and should any breaches or waivers be revealed the Department would investigate these.
	The employment of agency staff by independent sector treatment centres is a matter for the independent sector provider as an employer.

Direct Payments (Disabled People)

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will simplify the paperwork relating to the qualification for and management of direct payments for people with long-term disabilities.

Liam Byrne: The Department is aware that some people are deterred from taking up direct payments because of the paperwork involved in becoming an employer. This is why we introduced the direct payments development fund in 2003. The fund is worth £3 million each year over three years. It aims to support voluntary organisations in partnership with their local councils in building up the support services we have learnt are fundamental to the success of direct payments.
	In addition, following the publication of the Green Paper, "Independence, Well-being and Choice", we are consulting on the viability of a new approach. It would offer the real benefit of choice and the control of direct payments without the potential burdens. This approach involves individual budgets which are held by the local authority on behalf of the person using services and who would work with them to arrange the appropriate support.

Genetic Testing

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures she is taking to reduce the time taken to undertake genetic testing.

Jane Kennedy: The 2003 genetics White Paper, "Our inheritance, our future—realising the potential of genetics in the NHS", announced £18 million to upgrade national health service genetics laboratories in England. As a result of this increase in laboratory capacity, we expect that by 2006 genetic test results should be available:
	Within three days where the result is needed urgently, for example, for prenatal diagnosis.
	Within two weeks where the potential genetic mutation is already known, for example, because another family member have already been tested.
	Within eight weeks for unknown mutations in a large gene.
	This initiative builds on earlier investments by the Department, including £11 million in specialised genetics services from 2001 and two national genetic reference laboratories to explore the use of new technologies in NHS genetic laboratories. The genetics White Paper also announced that it would boost the future workforce in NHS genetic laboratories by funding up to 90 healthcare scientist trainees in genetics and 10 trainer posts.

Hospital Cleanliness

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has received regarding the use of ward sisters in the pursuit of cleanliness on hospital wards; and from whom those representations have been received.

Jane Kennedy: The Department has received no formal representations on this issue. We recognise that ward sisters have a key role to play in ensuring that hospitals are clean. "A Matron's Charter: An Action Plan for Cleaner Hospitals", published in 2004, by all of the organisations representing nursing staff, re-emphasises the importance of involving ward sisters in establishing cleaning contracts and setting and monitoring standards of cleanliness.

Lifestyle

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps have been taken and what plans she has to encourage people (a) to exercise and (b) to lead healthy lifestyles.

Caroline Flint: "Choosing Activity: a physical activity action plan", was published on 9 March 2005. The plan brings together all the commitments relating to physical activity in the Public Health White Paper, "Choosing Health: Making healthy choices easier", as well as further activity across Government, which will contribute to increasing levels of physical activity. This represents a cross-Government plan to co-ordinate action aimed at increasing levels of physical activity across the whole population—as recommended in "Game Plan : A Strategy for delivering Government's sport and physical activity objectives", published by the Department of Culture Media and Sport and the Prime Ministers' strategy unit in 2002. Work is already under way to support the physical activity action plan, which includes:
	Publication of the Chief Medical Officer's report, "At least Five A Week", in April 2004, setting out recommendations on activity levels sufficient for general health as well as more specific recommendations in relation to individual disease and conditions.
	The Department, together with the Countryside Agency and Sport England, sponsoring local exercise action pilots in 10 neighbourhood renewal areas, which are testing different community approaches to increasing physical activity in deprived areas.
	Publication of a guide for primary care trusts and football clubs to encourage good practice and foster links in health improvement work.
	The Department also published "Delivering Choosing Health: Making Healthier Choices Easier" on 9 March. This overarching delivery plan will help more people make more healthy choices and reduce health inequalities, in particular through:
	The introduction from mid 2007 of Health Direct, which will be accessible via the existing NHS Direct web, telephone and digital television-based service and will provide a permanent one-stop shop of practical health improvement information, advice and decision-support tools to professionals and individuals.
	The provision of practical support to individuals through health trainers, who will be community based and who will help people develop their own personal health plans, provide advice and practical support to stop smoking, practise safer sex, deal with stress and access local services.

Macular Degeneration

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research is being undertaken into dry macular degeneration.

Liam Byrne: The main agency through which the Government supports medical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council (MRC). The MRC is an independent body funded by the Department of Trade and Industry via the Office of Science and Technology.
	In 2002–03, the latest year for which figures are available, the MRC spent £5.9 million on vision research. This research includes a project on genetic susceptibility to age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The project aims to identify the genetic factors involved in AMD.
	The Department funds research to support policy and to provide the evidence needed to underpin quality improvement and service development in the national health service and, through its health technology assessment programme, is undertaking a systematic review into the cost effectiveness of screening programmes for both wet and dry AMD.
	Over 75 per cent. of the Department's total expenditure on health research is devolved to and managed by NHS organisations. Details of individual projects including a number concerned with AMD can be found on the national research register at: www.dh.gov.uk/research.

Obesity

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action her Department has taken to implement the recommendations of the Health Select Committee regarding (a) assisting people who suffer with obesity and (b) encouraging people to take action to stop them being obese.

Caroline Flint: The Health Select Committee's report made a major contribution to the development of our proposals for action in the White Paper, "Choosing Health", published in November 2004. Obesity was one of the six overarching priorities of the White Paper and we were able to address very nearly all of the Committee's recommendations.
	The White Paper delivery plan, "Delivering Choosing Health", together with national plans focusing on nutrition, "Choosing a Better Diet", and physical activity, "Choosing Activity", published in March 2005, set out the detail of how we will deliver our White Paper proposals and how they will contribute to delivery of the public service agreement target on obesity.

Primary Care (Hornsey and Wood Green)

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funds have been committed to improving access to primary care in Hornsey and Wood Green since 1997; and if she will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: The Department has supported Haringey Primary Care Trust (PCT) with a total of £1.3 million towards the cost of the North Middlesex national health service walk-in centre. However, under "Shifting the Balance of Power" principles, it is for Haringey PCT to decide how much of its overall funding is committed to improving primary care access and how much to other priorities. Haringey PCT's investment decisions have enabled it to be able to report that, from December 2004, it has successfully delivered the primary care access target without denying local patients the opportunity to book appointments ahead.

Rheumatology

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence she has received from the British Society for Rheumatology relating to the prevalence of postcode prescribing in the treatment of (a) rheumatoid arthritis, (b) ankylosing spondylitis and (c) psoriatic arthritis.

Liam Byrne: I have received a copy of a report entitled "Access to anti-TNF Therapies for Adults with Inflammatory Arthritis", published jointly by the British Society for Rheumatology and the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance.

Smoking-related Deaths

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what her estimate is of the total number of deaths from smoking-related illnesses in people who are not smokers for the most recent period for which figures are available; and what proportion of these deaths were in people whose partners were smokers.

Caroline Flint: The scientific committee on tobacco and health (SCOTH) has reviewed the evidence on harm from second hand smoke, most recently in its report published alongside the White Paper "Choosing Health", on 16 November 2004. SCOTH did not produce an estimate of the total number of deaths other than stating that there are "several hundred extra lung cancer deaths a year" due to exposure to second hand smoke. SCOTH did not produce figures which estimated what proportion of deaths were in people whose partners were smokers. A copy of the SCOTH report is available in the Library.
	In March 2005, the British Medical Journal published a study by Professor K. Jamrozik, entitled, "Estimate of deaths attributable to passive smoking among UK adults: database analysis". This concluded that:
	"Across the United Kingdom as a whole, passive smoking at work is likely to be responsible for the deaths of more than two employed people per working day (617 deaths per year), including 54 deaths in the hospitality industry each year. Each year passive smoking at home might account for another 2700 deaths in persons aged 20–64 years and 8000 deaths among people aged 65 and over."
	A copy of the study is available in the Library.